Murphy wooed by Jol’s Spurs transformation

By Simon StoneDANNY MURPHY admits the strides Tottenham have made under Martin Jol convinced him to join Spurs from Charlton.

The 28-year-old spent 18 months at The Valley after joining from Liverpool, where he played for seven years following his move from his first club Crewe Alexandra in 1997.

But Jol added the former England man to his talented band of midfielders for a fee thought to be around £2 million (€2.94m). And Murphy admits the progress Spurs are making helped him make the decision to leave Charlton, where he had fallen out of favour with Alan Curbishley.

"The club has now built a squad that is challenging for Europe," he said.

"In the forthcoming seasons they can be playing European football and challenging for major honours and the opportunity for me was too much to ignore. It’s a fantastic chance for me."

Charlton’s season started promisingly as they chased their dream of European football. But their fortunes changed quickly and Murphy’s excellent early form deserted him.

"I think like any team you have good and bad spells and we had a sequence of bad results, which was difficult," he said.

Murphy chose Charlton over Tottenham upon leaving Liverpool and was apparently put off by the prospect of working with another foreign coach after falling out with Rafael Benitez. However, Jacques Santini’s reign at White Hart Lane was brief and under Jol, Spurs have stabilised.

"At the time Charlton was a very stable club and the manager and I had a good chat. Tottenham are under a different manager now and have progressed a lot.

"I couldn’t foresee the way Tottenham have progressed to become a major force and Martin Jol deserves a lot of credit for that," said the midfielder.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, February 02, 2006